The Hero Master Planner
by avalonroses
Summary: Arthur can't decide if Alfred's cat, Hero, is actually a hero or just a menace. Either way, he's responsible for getting Arthur's cat pregnant and Arthur is not best pleased. Written for USUK Sweethearts Week. Nekotalia and Omegaverse!USUK.


_The Hero Master Planner_

Arthur was done.

He had been very patient with Mr. I'm-So-Devastatingly-Attractive-I-Can-Get-Away-With-Everything but this was the final straw. Arthur wasn't going to let his neighbour get away with this, not this time.

Marching into his neighbour's front garden with fire on his tongue, the Omega flicked through his internal catalogue of scathing insults and bulletproof arguments. The Alpha wouldn't know what had hit him. Arthur rapped his knuckles against the man's front door and waited for an answer, practically vibrating with rage.

The door clicked open and Alfred, as he had introduced himself to Arthur a few months ago when he'd first moved in, scanned his eyes across Arthur's face.

At the sight of him, Arthur's brain emptied and his anger puddled at his feet, draining from his body and leaving him unintelligible. Alfred must have arrived home recently from wherever he worked; Arthur didn't have a clue, and had been in the process of getting changed when Arthur knocked on his door. His shirt was completely unbuttoned and the hard ridges of the muscles on his chest were laid bare before Arthur's eyes.

He smelt _delectable, _a heady cocktail of Alpha pheromones. God, was Arthur's mouth watering?

Alfred beamed at Arthur with recognition. "Howdy there neighbour!"

The Omega knew the greeting was for him, knew that normal social behaviour dictated he _should _respond in kind and he knew that he really _shouldn't _have been rendered spellbound by a sliver of an Alpha's chest.

Alfred tipped his head, his smile straightening. "Was there something you needed…? You out of sugar or eggs or...?"

"No," Arthur said waspishly, shaking himself out of stupidity. This already wasn't going as planned. "I actually came here because of your cat_."_

As if on cue, the fluffy monstrosity made itself known, yowling at its owner for attention. The white Maine Coon was like a bloody cloud of candy floss. Arthur glared at him but the cat paid no mind as it circled around Alfred's leg, smearing pale fur over the dark suit trousers.

"Hero? Why, what's he done?"

Alfred picked up the cat and cradled the fat thing in the crook of his arm. Hero rested a paw across Alfred's chest, purring noisily, as if purposefully taunting Arthur.

"_Hero," _Arthur snipped. _Honestly, what a ridiculous name._ "Is still inviting himself into my home. If you recall, I spoke to you about this a few weeks ago."

When he'd first spied Hero squeezing himself through the cat flap in the backdoor and then proceeding to chow down on Marmalade's food, Arthur had simply shooed him away in the hope that the cat would be too frightened to return. However, the animal was both undaunted and persistent and had no intention of leaving Arthur, and Marmalade, alone.

Arthur considered uninstalling the cat flap. Marmalade was an indoor cat for the most part, she rarely left the comfort of her home and when she did, it was for only for half an hour or less. It wouldn't impact greatly on Marmalade if she didn't have her door to the outside world and so Arthur was settled on having it removed. That was until he found Marmalade and Hero curled up together in Marmalade's favourite sleeping spot.

Arthur found it peculiar that she had become attached to Hero so swiftly. The scrawny Scottish Fold was a difficult cat. Arthur had warmed to her instantly when he'd first spotted her as a kitten in the rescue centre but she was capricious, irritable, and it took a few months before she took to Arthur.

If Arthur had known that Alfred's wretched cat had actually been taking advantage of his innocent little Marmalade, he would have booted Hero up the arse and bricked up the cat flap himself.

"Yeah, I remember. Is he still eating your cat's food?"

"No – well, yes, but that is the least of my worries at the moment. _He_ has impregnated _my cat_." Arthur let the words sink between them, schooling his expression into cool accusation.

The Alpha's eyebrows arched into his hairline and he did a double-take at the rumbling creature in his arms. "Woah, seriously?" He turned to Hero. "Buddy, I can't believe you got a lady kitty knocked-up, you little player."

Arthur bristled, his brow scrunching with indignation. "I beg your pardon but this isn't something to be proud of. If you were going to allow Hero to wander wherever he pleased without consequences, you should have had the foresight to have him castrated. It was very irresponsible of you to not have taken him for the procedure. This is, effectively, _your fault _and, as such, I feel it is only fair that you offer financial support and assist me in finding a home for the kittens once they are born."

Alfred frowned, it was incongruous on the Alpha's open, handsome face, and he set Hero down. His scent shifted, darkened with disapproval. Arthur's posture faltered slightly but he caught himself and crossed his arms across his chest testily. He refused to be intimidated by an Alpha especially when he was making an entirely sound point.

"Okay, I'll help you out."

Arthur parted his lips, more than ready to censure Alfred but he was left gaping like a fish at Alfred's agreement.

"And I'll book an appointment at the vets to get him castrated, I guess it's a little late now but it'll stop something like this from happening again."

"Yes, well – good," Arthur breathed, trying to recover his footing after the shock of the easy cooperation. He'd anticipated significantly more expletives to be thrown about during this exchange.

"I just felt bad for him," the Alpha continued with a trace of a grin. "I guess you wouldn't understand, as an Omega."

"I'm still a man, you imbecile!"

"Yeah but you ain't got the power to put babies in people," Alfred teased. His scent had mellowed back to its original, delicious fragrance. "You just carry the babies."

Arthur blinked in wonder at the stupidity of this man. He supposed that was the defect of being sodding gorgeous. "_Just _carry the babies?" Arthur probed, incredulous. "Right, of course, because throughout the entire process of creating and bringing a human being into the world, it's the Alpha's role in all of it that's the trickiest."

"Right! And essential, don't forget that."

He couldn't quite believe he was having this conversation. "If it wasn't essential your existence would be rendered useless," Arthur responded dryly.

"Then thank your lucky stars it is essential because the world would suck without us Alphas, am I right?"

Alfred's smile was playful and his eyes were iridescent with _something_.

Arthur's arms went lax and he struggled to maintain his poker-face.

_Was Alfred flirting with him?!_

The ability of speech fled from the Omega and he was having an internal meltdown while the silence bubbled between him and Alfred.

_Oh dear god. Did he flirt back? Was Alfred _actually _flirting or was he just being friendly? Overly friendly? He seems like the over friendly type and Arthur could detect any attraction in Alfred's scent. What if he was hiding it though? Alphas were good at hiding particular scents._

"Can I see her?"

The question dowsed Arthur in a shock of reality. "Who?"

"Your cat," Alfred said, chuckling. "What's her name?"

"Marmalade."

"_Marmalade? _You named your cat _Marmalade?"_

And after Arthur had stayed quiet about Alfred's choice of name.

"Marmalade is a lovely name, thank you very much, certainly not as idiotic as _Hero."_

"He is a hero though," Alfred muttered, peering down at the space Hero had occupied previously. The cat had disappeared since. "So can I? See _Marmalade_?"

"…now?"

"No, not now. When she starts showing so I can check in on Hero's awesome babies."

"I assure you, if those kittens are 'awesome' it will down to Marmalade's superior genetics. And yes, you may see her. I'll invite you over in a few weeks if you'd like."

"I'd definitely like that," Alfred said, gravelly and sensual. A throb of heat travelled along Arthur's spine, tingling at his nerve endings. The sensation was distressingly powerful and it had, without a doubt, seeped into his scent – enough for a keen-nosed Alpha to detect.

"O-okay, that's fine – that's, yes… alright, I'd best be off then."

Arthur retreated out of Alfred's garden, the tips of his ears enflamed, and he wondered how he was ever going to face the Alpha again.

-/-

Marmalade watched her owner superciliously through one eye. The Omega had been fussing with the placement of cushions, swiping away non-existent dust and adjusting the collar of his shirt for the past half an hour.

Arthur had _not _gone to painstaking lengths to decide what to wear, he had not brushed his hair over and over again, he had not washed himself with a special scent-concealing soap so Alfred couldn't distinguish any of Arthur's telling scents and his stomach had not bunched up with nervousness.

Of course not, he was fine.

It didn't help that he was on the cusp of entering his heat, perhaps tomorrow or the day after, which always made him feel agitated and hyperactive.

It was just his neighbour and he was only visiting Arthur for his cat.

Marmalade was about half-way into her pregnancy now and the poor thing was already waddling around like an old man. She was only carrying a small litter of three but she was a proud girl and didn't appreciate the decline of her elegance with each day her belly expanded. Arthur had been spoiling her rotten, however, which kept her grouchiness at bay.

There was a knock at the door and all of the colour drained from Arthur's face.

_It's just Alfred._

The Alpha's larger than life presence soared into the house the moment Arthur opened the door and Marmalade didn't approve.

"Hey! Hero followed me here, is it okay for him to come in too?"

Arthur's eyes narrowed at the fat feline butting his way past Arthur's legs and into the house.

"Why not, the bloody animal is here enough as it is," Arthur grumbled, attempting to ignore the alluring smell that followed the Alpha as he stepped inside.

"Oh wow! Is this your girl, Hero? She sure is pretty," Alfred announced enthusiastically, approaching the armchair Marmalade had christened as her own. Both of her eyes were open and alert and she scrutinised Alfred.

Alfred astonished Arthur when his manner became gentle and he knelt carefully beside Marmalade, offering her his fingers so she could inspect them. Arthur couldn't believe his ears when the horrid traitor purred and squashed her nose against Alfred's fingertips, inviting him to stroke her.

Humming with enjoyment, Alfred fluffed her fur with his hand. "She's friendly, isn't she?" the Alpha said, more for the benefit of the cat than for Arthur.

"She's lucky I put up with her," the Englishman muttered under his breath. "Would you like a drink?"

"Sure, do you have coke?"

"I'll have a look."

Luckily, he had two cans of coke nestled at the back of the fridge. He usually stocked up on fizzy drinks before his younger brother, Peter, visited but he hadn't been around in a while. Arthur poured himself a cup of tea, adding a dash of milk. When he walked back into the living room, he had to force himself not to admire the thick muscles working under Alfred's shirt as the Alpha smoothed his palm over Marmalade's protruding belly. The American appeared to be gloriously strong and Arthur squirmed in his seat as he considered how effortlessly Alfred would be able to lift Arthur.

"Do you know how many kitties she's going to have?" Alfred wondered aloud.

"Three kittens, the vet guessed," Arthur supplied, taking an appreciative sip from his tea. "It's too early to know exactly."

Alfred took a seat opposite Arthur and, ignoring the offered glass, opened his can of coke and took a swig. Hero was beside Marmalade the instant Alfred moved away from her. He gave Marmalade's forehead a couple of licks before curling his body around her and promptly falling asleep.

"Looks like Hero's won her heart," Alfred said with a peculiar inflection, almost as if he was _jealous. _He murmured something and Arthur could have sworn he caught the words: '_…being outdone by my own cat.'_

"I'm sorry? I didn't catch that." _Outdone at what? Winning Marmalade's heart? What a strange thing to say. _

"Have you thought of any names?" the taller man asked keenly, changing the subject.

"No, I haven't." Curiosity bloomed across Alfred's face at Arthur's negative response. "I don't want to become too attached," Arthur explained.

"Oh right, gotcha. Not gonna lie, I've already thought of some names," Alfred admitted with a sheepish grin. The Omega arched an eyebrow inquisitively and Alfred continued. "I'm thinking one of them should definitely be called McFlurry. I love McFlurries."

"You can't be serious," Arthur said, deadpan.

"Totally serious! Hot Dog would be a cool name too, or Grilled Cheese."

"You can't call a cat _Grilled Cheese_, that's animal abuse!"

"I guess they'll, technically, be half British so one of them could have a British name," Alfred conceded.

Arthur scoffed, setting his tea down. "Excuse me? They'll all have 'British names' since my cat is the one doing all the hard work. Besides, they'll be rude and obnoxious if they're given barbaric American names such as _McFlurry." _Arthur spat out the word, shaking his head. "No, I think not, at least with British names they'll have a sense of propriety."

"Yeah but they'll drink gross leaf water and have bad teeth. That would be too damaging for them to lead a normal life. Why would you do that to the innocent kittens?" Alfred jested, his grin cheeky.

Insulted, Arthur reached over and whacked Alfred across his bicep. Alfred laughed melodiously and the Omega's lips broke into a smile inadvertently.

Alfred's laughed faded and his features became intense and heated, his gaze making Arthur's skin prickle. The Englishman diverted his eyes away, the air between them crackling and electric.

"If they were British, though," Alfred said, slicing into the silence with a deepened voice. The velvety sound brushed against Arthur's body with a tempting touch. "They would be really cute and have sexy accents."

Arthur's centre melted and he felt a wet warmth that he realised, with shattering panic, wasn't supposed to be there. Not yet anyway. Arthur exhaled sharply which only served to fill his nostrils with the drugging scent Alpha.

_He'd gone into heat early. Because of Alfred. Fuck._

Arthur stood abruptly, startling Alfred. He only had a few minutes before the heat sent would be noticeable; the scent-concealing soap was ineffective to the pungency of heats.

"I've just realised that I actually have an appointment I'm late for. I completely forgot," the Omega said, urgency spilling from his lips.

"Oh," Alfred replied, blinking owlishly. "No problem, I'll get going then."

"My apologies, Alfred, but you're more than welcome to visit next week – to see Marmalade, of course."

"Is Hero okay to stay here? He's pretty comfy there." Alfred gestured to the pair of entangled, slumbering cats.

"Of course."

Impatiently, Arthur led Alfred to the front door and ushered him out.

"It was nice seeing you… and Marmalade," the Alpha said with sincerity.

"It was nice seeing you too, Alfred," Arthur breathed, closing the door on Alfred with a great deal of difficulty.

-/-

Arthur dashed downstairs, more than ready to inflict physical pain upon Francis. Only a Frenchman would go about _answering other people's doors _as if he owned the place. Arthur stomped into the porch, glowering at the back of Francis' head and wanting more than anything to wrench on his delicate curls.

"No, it's fine. I don't want to intrude –"

"Alfred?"

Arthur was surprised to find the American stood at his doorstep.

"Arthur?" The Alpha's face was oddly stony as he glanced at Arthur. "I didn't mean to bother you. I was just about to leave."

"Don't be silly, come in. I'll get you a drink." Arthur moved aside so Alfred could pass through the threshold.

"No," Alfred retorted, the rejection dropping between them, as heavy and cold as stone. "It was nothing important, I've got plenty of things to be doing. And I can see you've got company."

There was something about the way Alfred spat the word _company _that unsettled the Omega.

Affronted by Alfred's uncharacteristic attitude, he pulled the door towards himself, suddenly not as willing to invite Alfred inside.

"See you around," Alfred said, not even looking at Arthur but at Francis, with hard eyes.

"Goodbye." The Omega slammed the door, biting down at the emotion that surged into his chest.

He was caught off guard when Francis laughed with an aura of secrecy, like he was sharing jokes with himself inside his head.

"What's so funny?" Arthur snapped.

"Your neighbour is not very fond of me."

"Of course he isn't, idiot, he has no idea who you are."

"Precisely. He has no idea who I am," Francis replied, enigmatic. "Perhaps, until the air has been cleared, I should refrain from visiting you, mon lapin."

Francis sauntered in the direction of the kitchen, dissolving from Arthur's view.

_What on earth was that about?_

-/-

Knocking one time too many at Alfred's door, Arthur paced until the door was opened, his fingers twitching with apprehension.

"Arthur –"

"She's having the kittens," Arthur blurted around a burst of breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

"Do you want me to come over?" the Alpha offered even though he was already grabbing his keys and exiting his house.

"If you would," Arthur said needlessly.

The two of them hadn't interacted for two weeks, since Alfred's unusual behaviour, and Arthur had had every intention of ignoring the American, two could play at that game, until Marmalade had tucked herself into her cardboard box of blankets Arthur had fashioned for the birth and had been letting out periodic, pained yowls ever since. Arthur couldn't stand to see her hurting and, even if Arthur knew he couldn't interfere with the birthing process, he didn't want to be alone while his cat was in agony.

As Arthur hurried to let himself and Alfred inside, Arthur noticed a tinkling growing louder until Hero emerged and ran past Arthur.

The Englishman didn't even grouch. These were his offspring too, after all.

Alfred did an excellent job of keeping Arthur calm, he was soothing company and he said all the right things, as if he had a direct feed of Arthur's inner qualms. At one point, he enclosed Arthur's hand in his and painted mindless patterns with his thumb against Arthur's wrist. Arthur was lulled with the welcome contact.

By 1:34 AM, Marmalade was surrounded by three healthy kittens and Arthur smiled, overcome with fondness for her and the tiny, suckling babies. Arthur was moved, more so than he thought he would be.

"Well done, old girl."

Hero had watched the process intently beside Alfred and Arthur.

"They're your kids," Alfred said to his cat who regarded Alfred with huge, blue eyes. "You've gotta be their hero now and look after them."

"You were a hero tonight." It was an absurd confession and Arthur flushed cherry-red under Alfred's stare. "Thank you for coming."

"You don't have to thank me, I wouldn't have said yes if I hadn't wanted to."

"I'm going to keep them," Arthur decided.

Chuckling, Alfred turned to the Omega. "I thought you might."

"Unless you would like one? Or two?"

"I don't think it would be right to separate them but I definitely want to see them and help out." Alfred paused. "If you'll let me, I mean," he added hurriedly.

"Of course I'll let you."

"What about your mate though? Won't he mind if I'm visiting all time?"

Arthur faced Alfred, looking at him uncomprehendingly. "My what?"

"Your mate? The Alpha that answered your door a couple of weeks ago?" Alfred prompted, stirring an image of Francis in Arthur's mind.

The Omega flinched, disgusted at the prospect. "That French tosser is _not _my mate, good god, how on earth did you come to that conclusion?"

Alfred scrunched his brow, clearly hesitant about what he was going to say next.

"When I first moved in, I saw him going in and out your house all the time and when you came over to yell at me about Hero eating Marmalade's food, his scent was all over you. I even tried to ask you out for dinner but you rejected me so I assumed you two were courting."

"When did you ask me out for din– dear god, please don't tell me it was that joke about the cat food. I thought you were taking the piss out of me. That's an awful way to ask a person out on a date!"

It was the first time Alfred was reduced to blushing and not Arthur. It was endearing.

"Okay, so maybe it wasn't my _best _pick up line but you still reeked of that French dude –"

"He was helping me redecorate." Arthur's mood soured with the memories of that particular disaster. "I say helping, I mean making a pig's ear out of everything. We had a fight when he was stripping wallpaper and he 'accidentally' removed a chunk of the wall."

Wincing, the only response Alfred made was, "Oh. So you two have never…?"

"No, never. Francis is like a brother to me. Not that I need another brother but he's certainly as annoying as all the biological ones I have."

Belatedly, Arthur connected the pieces together felt the lightness of a resolved mystery overwhelm him. "You were… jealous, then, when Francis answered my door."

"Jealous, disappointed, hurt… yeah." Arthur altered the position of his glasses and rubbed the back of his neck, gathering himself to continue. "The second time you showed up at my house, about Marmalade being pregnant, you got all cute and flustered so easily," Alfred recalled, his words enveloped with affection. "I couldn't smell Francis on you; actually, it was pretty obvious you were trying to hide attraction from me. I figured you'd broken it off with Francis and I thought I had a shot with you. I feel a little guilty because I kinda used Marmalade's pregnancy to have a sort-of-date. You just looked so beautiful when you opened the door and I was– well, I _am _crazy about you."

Alfred glanced at Arthur, expression soft with shame.

"I knew you'd started to go into heat the moment I saw you and I couldn't stop myself from… pushing you over the edge."

"You… you knew?" Clammy hotness pooled in Arthur's cheeks and Alfred ducked his head like a dog being scolded by its owner.

"Yeah, nothing gets past this nose," Alfred teased warily. "You smelt _so good _and I got carried away. I know I shouldn't have, it was really stupid of me and I'm sorry."

Allowing all of this information marinate, Arthur came to a maddening conclusion.

"So, from what I understand, we could have started courting a long time ago?"

"Pretty much. Ugh, this was not how things were supposed to be." Alfred almost visibly plucked up every last scrap of his courage and took one of Arthur's hands. "I want to do this properly, since it's been such a mess so far. Will you let me court you, Arthur?"

He was overpowered by an uncontrollable reflex to smile. "You better believe I'll let you."

Alfred laughed, beautifully, enchantingly, "I am so taking you out for dinner."

"While that sounds lovely, I think your first course of action should be kissing me, closely followed by a desperate race to my bedroom."

Alfred complied heartily and the last thing Arthur registered before being kissed senseless by a wonderful Alpha was the approving purr thundering from Hero, as if he had been the omnipotent master planner behind this messy course of events. Perhaps he had been.

* * *

Written for USUK Sweethearts Week, Day Seven: Holding Out for a Hero.


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